Little Bookshop of Murder: A Beach Reads Mystery

Little Bookshop of Murder by Maggie Blackburn has Summer Merriweather returning home to Brigid’s Island, North Carolina after the death of her mother. Summer does not believe that her healthy mother suddenly dropped dead from a heart attack. Summer receives a threatening note the day of the funeral and learns her mother had been receiving them as well. Something wicked has come into their lives and Summer intends to get answers. Little Bookshop of Murder is the debut of A Beach Reads Mystery series. Summer Merriweather is a professor of Shakespearean Literature at a university in Virginia. She has been in England doing research for her latest book (publish or perish). She returns home just in time for her mother’s funeral. Summer is dubious from the beginning at the cause of her mother’s death. The police, though, cannot act without proof. So, Summer with help from her family sets out to get the truth. There is a large cast of characters that includes Summer, her cousin, her aunt, the chief of police, fire chief, and members of the Mermaid Pie Book Club. I would like to see the characters fleshed out. They felt a little flat except for Mr. Darcy, the chatty African Grey parrot. There are various incidents that help propel the story forward and reinforce the belief that Summer’s mother may have been killed by a duplicitous individual. The suspect list is small and there are distinctive clues. The killer can easily be identified long before Summer solves the case. I hope the author ups her game in the next book. I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of Beach Reads, the bookshop owned by Summer’s mother. It sounded like a haven for book lovers except for the smell of patchouli. There were some side stories like Summer’s spider phobia that never really went anywhere. I expected at least one spider episode. There is some foul language in this cozy. I am curious as to what changes Summer plans for Beach Reads which specializes in romances. I also wonder if Summer will find romance with a certain handsome fire chief. Little Bookshop of Murder transports readers to Brigid’s Island where there is a fluent fowl, a dubious death, a beautiful beach bungalow, a curious cousin, a flock of food, and one Shakespearean scholar turned sleuth.

amateur-sleuth, professor, murder, arson, theft, family-dynamics, friendship, small-town, small-business, law-enforcement Summer is a Shakespearean scholar and professor who has returned to her former home on a North Carolina island to bury her mother who died totally unexpectedly. At her mother's bookshop she meets some of the people who meant much to her as well as her own aunt and cousins. The police call the death a coronary, but there are inconsistencies including threatening notes followed by a burglary at the shop, arson at the house while Summer sleeps, and later she was pushed and sustained a severe concussion. The police chief has a closed mind on the subject and the tox screen seems to take forever. Meanwhile Summer has a good deal of angst about so many things including her career. The mystery is quite well done, and the supporting characters are very well done. It's the main character who seems a little two-dimensional, partly because most non-academics don't realize the importance of things like Publish or Perish or how difficult things can still be for a woman in a field dominated by men. And still, image is everything in Academia. Basically, I really liked it! I requested and received a free ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!